Vania



R. S. PEASE.

STORE FRONT.

APPLICATION FILED NOV. 4. \9l5.

Patented July 15, 1919.

2 SHEETS-SHEET l- INVENT R27 ATTORNEYS R. S. PEASE.

sroae mom. APPLICATION FILED NOV-4,1915- 1 309,91 1 Patented July 15, 1919.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2- ATTORNEYS RO GEB S. PEASE, OF PITTSBURGH, PENNSYLVANIA, ASSIGNOB T0 PITTSBURGH PLATE GLASS COMPANY, OF PITTSBURGH, PENNSYLVANIA, A CORPORATION OF PENNSYL- VANIA.

STORE-FRONT.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented July 15, 1919.

Application filed November 4, 1915. Serial No. 59,700.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, ROGER S. PEAsE, a citizen of the United States, residing at Pittsburgh, in the county of Allegheny and State of Pennsylvania, have invented new and useful Improvements in Store-Fronts, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to store fronts and more particularly to that form of store front commonly used by confectioners, druggists and five-.and-ten cent stores, wherein the upper portion is provided with display windows which permit the entrance of lightinto the store and at the same time serve to display wares at a convenient elevation. One of the principal objects of the invention is to .utilize the spacebetween the display windows and the side walk in a profitable manner without in any way interfering with the light of the store or with the display for the wares. Other objects are the provision of a store front wherein check controlled compartments are provided beneath the display windows for containing confection, nuts, or other articles of merchandise, the said compartment being held closed preferably by key, check or coin cont-rolled locks; the provision of a store front wherein a large number of compartments may be utilized for dispensing Wares without the attention of an attendant, and such other objects as may hereinafter appear. One form of the invention is shown in the accompanying drawings, wherein- Figure 1 is a front perspective view of a store front, Fig. 2 is a vertical section through a compartment on the line H-H of Fig. 1, Fig. 3 is a horizontal section on the irregular line III-IH of Fig. 2, Fig. 4 Y

is a vertical section of a portion of a com- 3, Fig. 5 is a face view of a key socket housing, Fig. 6 is a face view of a key'socket, and Fig. 7 is a face view of a portion of the rear end of a compartment.

Referring to Fig. l, of the drawings, the store front comprises a pair of display windows l and 2 arranged on either side of the entrance door 3 thus forming. an entrance passage a between the windows leading to the door. The windows are providedwith floors 5 and 6 respectively, for sup orting the various wares to be displaye such floors being spaced above the sidewalk 7 in order that the wares may readily be seen windows for the arrangement of a series of dispensing compartments 9. These compartments are for containing confection, nuts, and other articles of merchandise and are provided with hinged doors 10, which are locked by check or combination controlled locks of a suitable nature, the object being to provide dispensing compartments that may be opened by the purchaser by means of keys, checks or coins without the necessity of an attendant being present. If keys orchecks are used to unlock the doors, they may be purchased at the window 11 which is attended at certain times of the day by an operator whose principal duty is to refill compartments as occasion demands. It will be seen that wares may be dispensed at night when there is no occasion for an attendant making it possible for the proprietor to serve his patrons both day and night with a minimum of effort.

Referring to Figs.'2 to 7, inclusive, a key controlled locking mechanism is shown wherein a door may be opened by means of a key which cannot be removed by the purchaser after the doorhas been opened. A patron buys the keys and the object of the device is to prevent the use thereof more than once. Referring more particularly to the door in closed position normally. The door is provided with a plate glass front 13 which permits the contents of the compartment to be viewed therethrough.

The vertical walls 14 of each compartment are pressed inwardly as at 15, to form a bearing for a locking shaft 16 which extends from the front to therear of the compartment. The front end of the shaft 16 is pro vided with a lock arm 17 which in locked position engages a yoke 18 carried by the door 10. When the locking shaft is in the position shown in Figs. 2, 3 and 4, the door cannot be opened, because the bar 17 is in engagement with the yoke 18.

In axial alinement with the front end of the locking bar 16 is a key socket 19 which is rotatable mounted in the front frame 20. The socket is provided with a flange 21 which abuts against the front frame 20, and

is retained against rearward movement by with a front door 10 hinged at 12 by means Y of, a suitable spring hinge adapted to hold a housing 22 which is secured to the front frame 20. The key socket is provided with an irregularly shaped slot 23 adapted to receive a key 24 having a cross section corresponding-to the contour of the slot. Therefore the key must be of a peculiar shape order to be laced in the slot.

The housin 22 is provided with a central hole' 25 of sl ightly greater diameter than the width of the key, which permits the key to be inserted therethrough when the key is inserted horizontally through the socket 19. The upper part of the hole 25 is of less radius than the lower part and forms a ledge 26 for a purpose hereinafter described.

The key 24 is provided with a notch 27, F ig.. 3, which alines with the housing 22 when the key is inserted a predetermined distance which is determined by the flange 28 on the key engagin the. front face of the socket 19. After the hey has been inserted as far as it will 0 it may be turned clockwise, the notch 2% at such time clearing the flange 26 in the housing 22. It will be seen, therefore, that after the key has been turned from a horizontal position, the key cannot be extracted because of its engagement with the flange 26-. v

The front end of the locking shaft 16 is provided with a slot 29, Figs. 2 and 3, adapted to receive the end of the key 19 in such manner that when the key 19 is turned the locking shaft will turn with it. When the key 19 is turned clockwise through nearly 90 the lock arm 17 on the shaft Wlll clear the yoke 18 which is carried by the door 10, and the door may then be opened and the contents of thecompartment 9 removed.

To prevent the removal of the key after the door has been locked, the locking shaft must be held against anti-clockwise movement so that the key cannot be returned to horizontal position. To accomplish this, the

locking shaft is provided at its rear end with a latch arm 30, Figs. 2,3 and 7, which normally holds a latch pin 31 de ressed. This latch pin is mounted directly a ove the locking shaft, between the walls 14 of the compartment 9, and is normally forced rearward by a spring 32. When the locking shaft is rotated to unlock the door 10, the latch arm 30, Fig. 7, will turn anti-clockwise as shown in the said figure, and release the latch pin 31 after the shaft has been turned through about 30. The latch pin 31 will then project from the rear frame 33 and prevent the rotation of the locking shaft 16 in the reverse direction. Therefore, the key 24 cannot be removed from the socket until the locking shaft has been again rotated sufiicient distance to bring the key into horizontal position.

In operation a patron purchases a key or a number of them for an amount representing the value of the commodity in each compartment. The keys may be purchased in the store or at the window 11. v The patron then uses a separate key for each compartment-, the key remaining in the socket each time a door is opened. The keys are subsequently removed by the attendant and the empty compartment refilled at such time.

In order to remove a key the attendant first pushes inthe button 341, which is integral with the pin 31, thus pushing the pin 31 out of the path of the latch arm 30. The locking shaft is then turned clockwise (see Fig. 7) by means of the flattenedend 35 of the locking shaft-16, causing the key 19- to assume the horizontal position and the latch arm 30 to hold the latch pin 31 depressed as it was originally. The key may then be removed by the attendant.

Each compartment 9 is provided at its rear end with a door 36, Figs. 3 and 7, having a glass panel 37. This door which is accessi le from the interior of the store, is held closed by a latch 38 which can only be operated from the rear. The compartments are charged through this door and owing to the provision of the glass panel, it can be readily seen when a compartment is empty.

It is obvious that the door lock may be controlled by check or coins by any of the Well known devices thus operated, without departing from the spirit of the invention, and other means of key controlled apparatus may similarly be employed. The invention is therefore not limited to the specific constructionherein disclosed, the form shown being merely the preferred form of construction. While a construction is illustrated having doors for closin the compartments it is obvious that certain drawer constructions may be utilized where preferable.

WhatI claim is:

1. A store front comprising a plurality of dispensing compartments accessible from the exterior and interior of the store, a key controlled locking mechanism'for the compartments adapted to receive a key inserted at the exterior of the store, means for locking the key against removal, and means operable from the interior of theStOre for releasing the key.

2. A store front comprising a plurality ofdispensin compartments provided with doors accessible from the exterior of the store, locking means for the doors controlled by keys'inserted at the exterior of the store, means for locking the keys against removal,- and means opera le from the interior of the store for releasing the keys.-

ROGER S. PEASE. 

